Confession
by htbthomas
Summary: I want my Chimmy! Indulge me a little fixit fic for the last scene of Smallville 704, Cure. ChloexJimmy.


**Title:** _Confession_  
**Author:** **htbthomas**  
**Fandom:** _Smallville_  
**Pairing:** Jimmy Olsen/Chloe Sullivan  
**Rating: **PG  
**Word Count: **1284 words  
**Summary:** I want my Chimmy! Indulge me a little fixit fic for the last scene of Smallville 704, _Cure_.  
**Author's Notes:** A birthday ficlet for **louisemcgregor**. Thanks to **Sean Montgomery** for the last-minute beta.

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"Jimmy, I'm so sorry for the craziness I've put you through the last couple of weeks," Chloe apologized. Jimmy sat beside her, the earnest look on his face making her deeply want things to be right between them.

"Well, let's just agree that the future will be more normal."

And with that, something snapped inside. Normal? She would never be normal again. Not now that kryptonite had _changed_ her. And the cure she had desperately sought had been nothing but a sham…

"Deal?"

Her heart sank. "I don't think I can make you that promise…" As she continued, she wished with everything she had that her next words were untrue, but after the way he had talked of 'meteor freaks' with such disgust… "I don't think things will ever be normal between the two of us."

After a moment of shock, he suddenly stood, not meeting her eyes. "Okay..." He shook his head a couple of times, clearly trying to get a handle on what she was saying. Then his eyes cleared and he looked at her again. "Wait a minute… is this because of Kara?"

Chloe began to shake her head. Sure, she'd had a small stab of jealousy seeing them together earlier, but—

"Because, after all the times that you left me on hold to go… run off and help Clark, I'd hate to think that… you're gonna give me a hard time for helping Kara once?" he asked incredulously, his voice starting to break with emotion.

"No, this isn't about Kara, this is about me, this is entirely _me_," she struggled to explain. Oh _God_, this was so hard!

Jimmy searched her face, trying to understand. "What's going on, Chloe?" She wanted to tell him what was going on, her mind was practically shouting – _Tell him! _But the words stuck in her throat, choked back by fear of how he would react.

"You… if you can't say it…? Try some sign language, or subtitle it…?"

Hot tears came finally to her eyes. "I can't…" She couldn't bring herself to finish. She suddenly felt sorry for all the times she lambasted Clark for keeping secrets… Her eyes closed to try to stop the tears from running down her face.

She felt the warm touch of Jimmy's fingers on her cheek, brushing away a runaway tear. "Come on, Chloe, you can tell me… how bad can it be?"

_How b—_ She crumpled into his arms, fully sobbing now, and hating it. She wanted to tell him – hadn't she watched Clark go through this with Lana ad nauseam? But how could she tell him? Jimmy wanted someone who was _normal_…

He gently patted her as she rubbed her face into his shoulder. "Whoa, whoa, whoa… it's okay…" He made soothing noises for several minutes as she let the tears flow freely – he seemed to know that talking was the last thing she needed right now.

Finally, she pulled back, wiping uselessly at her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffling. "I'm so sorry, Jimmy… every time I think I've got a handle on this, I find out I really don't…"

He took one of her hands in his and gave her one of his winning smiles. "No, _I_'m sorry I pushed you, Chloe. You don't have to tell me if it upsets you so much." He looked down at their clasped hands. "You _do_ know that you can tell me, right?" He looked back up into her eyes hopefully. "Whenever you're ready."

She nodded slightly, breaking eye contact.

He stood quickly. "Hey, what do you say we get a coffee somewhere? There's that place around the corner… I don't know if it compares to the Talon, but it's gotta be better than this dusty old room…"

How she _wanted_ to do that… to pretend as if they hadn't just been on the verge of a breakup… No. She refused to make the same mistakes she had watched her best friend make over and over again. She _had_ to tell him, even if it turned out to be the end… for real. If she didn't, then she'd only be delaying the inevitable. "I'd love that…" She offered a half-smile. "But what I'd love more…" She pulled him down to sit again. "…is for you to know just what's going on with me."

Jimmy's expression of concern flickered for just a moment – Chloe knew he'd been waiting for an explanation for a long time – but he kept silent. He'd been so patient with her, more than patient. "I found out I'm…" Her voice broke. He squeezed her hand, and she found the strength to force more words out. "…that I'm different." She paused, dreading having to call herself the name she had casually tossed about when editor of the _Torch_.

"Different? Well, we're all a little—"

"No." She stopped him before he could misunderstand. "I really am. I'm a… a _meteor freak_."

Jimmy stared at her for a moment, then a gave a little nervous laugh. "Seriously?" She stared back numbly, feeling as if her whole world was crumbling around her. After a pause that seemed to last forever, he said, "_You_...?" He closed his eyes and gave his head a little shake. "But... how? How is that possible?"

Chloe winced. His words hurt, but at least he hadn't let go of her hands. "Just like anyone else gets infected, Jimmy," she replied, her voice growing stronger. "I didn't ask for this, you know."

"Oh, I know that... but you've always been so... you and Clark, you..." He ran a hand through his hair, trying to process this new information. "Wow."

"I only found out earlier this year, and I didn't even know what I could do until a few weeks ago..." She swallowed. "And it scares me to death." _Literally,_ she added mentally. Waking up in the morgue was the worst experience of her life, and that was really saying something after everything she'd been through. "That's where I was tonight... trying to get a cure... there isn't one."

"Oh, Chlo..." He wrapped his arms around her. "Do you think I care about that? All I want is you... whatever that means." He pulled back and placed his hands on the sides of her face. "I just want to be with you - that's the _only_ reason I... God, I was such an idiot to say those things..."

She managed a small grin through the tears which hadn't yet stopped. "Don't worry, I was exactly the same until I found out."

He grinned in return, and leaned forward slightly as if he were going to kiss her... but then he stopped. But Chloe had no such hesitation. She leaned into him, lips brushing against his. He opened his mouth to her and returned her kiss enthusiastically. As she kissed him, relief flooded through her and warmth suffused her limbs. What she had feared - Jimmy leaving her in disgust - hadn't happened. He had accepted her, told her he wanted her... Jimmy broke the kiss and ran a hand down her tear-stained cheek. "I love you, Chloe. I always will, okay?"

"I love you, too, Jimmy. I'm sorry I kept this from you."

He nodded his head toward the doorway, smiling. "You wanna go get that coffee now?"

"God, yes." She wiped her tears one last time and stood, grabbing her bag.

As they headed down the hallway, Jimmy turned to her. "Hey, you wouldn't be able to, you know, speed us there, or fly, or teleport...?" he joked. "You never did say what it was you can do."

With a mysterious wink, she replied, "I'll tell you over the first cappuccino."


End file.
